DISCOVERY ➴ Chrollo x Reader

XL. Care

Her head whipped around and, for a moment, I felt hope. This could be where all my problems miraculously solved themselves... The gleam of recognition crossed her eyes once they landed on me, and her lips curled upwards. 

"Y/N"- She took me in from head to toe, and her smile turned into a frown as her eyebrows scrunched together. "What are you wearing?"

Ah. Right. As if... Life never got better on its own... it was naive of me to think that just by being in my hometown things would just work out. What could my mom even do? She just led a normal life. She didn't need to be dragged into this mess I found myself into. The excitement my voice held drained into an aloof tone, one I used many times with her. "Clothes. Am I showing something unseemly?"

"No, your clothes are all wrinkled and dirty!" She waved her hands at me and I finally took a look down, noticing the browned lining of my ill-fitting garments. Well. Yeah. This was not a very presentable look. A sigh left my lips and I looked back at my distressed mother, who was rummaging through her large handbag for something. "What are you doing here? Did you decide to visit, for once?"

I bit the inside of my cheek and blinked slowly at her. This was expected. This was our thing. This was how she always reacted when I visited... I kept telling myself not to take it to heart. She cared... in her own way. 

She yanked out a monstrosity that held a bunch of chiming keys from her bag and tossed them at me, I struggled to hold onto it, but she was already speaking in her rushed tone. "I have an appointment right now, I'll be at the market in an hour. Go home, shower, change and meet me there." And she was off, striding across the street with a pace that some would call fast. 

Yeah. Welcome back, Y/N. Back to a routine as if nothing had happened... as if I had never left town... I sighed, and my feet took me by heart to our house, it wasn't anything to brag about, but it was clean. It let everyone that lived in it have their little space, and it had a tiny little garden, full of green cabbages and tomato plants, forced to stay tall by unmatched wooden sticks and string. The tomatoes peeked underneath the leaves, still green. The breeze caressed my cheeks and brought forth the smell of vegetables. The air felt clearer, so I took three deep breaths before unlocking the front door and stepping inside. 

Everything inside was the same and different. People lived in this house, things broke and were replaced, but the general look remained the same. It felt like a century had passed since I had last visited. I didn't want to talk of my failures... of my disappointing life... I didn't want to lie either... so it was better to just... stay away. 

My room was cleaner, as if my mom had just cleaned it the day before. A new perfume, and a small box atop it, new things, but the rest of my room stayed as I had left it. Frozen in time for me. I tapped the perfume bottle and opened the small jewellery box, a simple necklace looked back at me. It wasn't something I would wear on the daily, but it was beautiful. I held back a tiny smile and repeated the words back to me. She cared in her own way. 

I looked around for a large backpack, and stuffed most of the clothes I had left behind inside it. It felt weird to be packing clothes on my old school backpack, and I let myself reminisce of simpler but not happier times. I picked the most comfortable clothes to wear and looked at the shoes I had left behind. The uncomfortable ones that I disliked using. They would have to do. Sadly, I had taken all my favourite clothes and shoes with me when I left... but my own clothes, were still much, much better than stolen ones. 

The quick shower I took felt like heaven and home. The products were odd, and I felt like a stranger every time I caught a whiff of the scent of them on me as I dressed myself. I looked back at the bottles but shook my head. I'd steal toiletries for myself elsewhere... I didn't want to be ungrateful and take their things just like that.

I sunk down on my bed, patting my hair dry, and felt comfortable. Old comfort. I looked at my backpack, on the floor next to the door to the corridor. It gave me pause. I could stay here. He knew that. I didn't have to go back to him. I had my family here, I'd feel bad, but they could help me get my documents and a menial job around here. 

But I wouldn't. I knew the moment my mom's eyes met mine that I would just play this off as a rushed visit. That she had more to worry about and more to do than to try to fix my life. She would try to if I told her, she'd worry but... what was there to do? Not much. We didn't have that sort of power... to solve things with a snap of our fingers. 

I just... couldn't say it. I didn't want to be another worry for my mother. She surely had many of those. I picked up my backpack and slid into a large coat with reasonable pockets before rushing out of my house to meet my mom by the market. 

I grunted at the neighbours' surprised coos and their amicable greetings, and found myself back where I had been a little over an hour ago, in front of the mall. Walking in, I gaped at the inside. It had been renewed, it was now more modern, a sign that life had gone on without me... That things would never stay the same, they would never wait for me to continue their advancements, no matter if on the outside it looked like they had.  

It felt like an epiphany, really. To be at a place where I could be comfortable, where people could help me, and still decide to leave with Chrollo. It was crazy. I must've gone crazy. I'm sure my neighbours would say that if they found out about my death... If they held a funeral for me. 

I looked around before stepping on the escalator that would lead me to the floor above. Yeah. I was crazy, I was leaving with my kidnapper. Even as he gave me the silent treatment! There was nothing for me here, in this town. I'd only be causing trouble and worry. 

Author's Note: Hello, my loves! I'm back with a chapter for you <3. I hope it makes sense... (I'm sorry it took so long, T.T)